WANdisco (WAND) was valued at almost £15 a share in 2013, before plummeting to somewhere around 80p. The reason for this drastic change in fortunes, which nearly saw the software group become a footnote in tech history, was a lack of maturity in the big data market and an insufficient product offering, according to boss David Richards.
The launch of Fusion, WANdisco's patent-protected software that enables data to be moved securely between computing environments, is expected to change this, particularly as adoption of cloud technology has since strengthened dramatically. In 2016, WANdisco inked new deals with the likes of Hewlett Packard and established a partner network with IBM, Oracle and Amazon. These agreements, which helped to trigger a 72 per cent jump in new sales bookings to $15.5m (£12.7m), increased the group's credibility, improved access to key blue-chip customers and reduced costs.